Coming Soon: Theaters, Airplanes to Post Calories

[mike r]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704323704575462021475610064.html

AUGUST 31, 2010
Coming Soon: Theaters, Airplanes to Post Calories
By JANET ADAMY

Regulators' appetite for calorie counts is about to extend beyond restaurants to thousands of other places that offer food, including airplanes, movie theaters and convenience stores. The expansion stems from provisions in the health-care overhaul enacted in March. The government wants calorie listings posted to make it easier for consumers to select healthier options, and the restaurant industry backed the move so it could avoid a patchwork of local ordinances that are developing.

So far, the expansion of the calorie counts beyond restaurants has drawn praise from nutrition advocates but push-back from industries that say the original legislation was never intended to hit them. "People don't go to movie theaters for the primary purpose of eating," said Gary Klein, a vice president for a group representing theater owners. "Why aren't ballparks covered? You think the food served at ballparks is healthy?"

The health-care law said chain restaurants with 20 locations or more are required to post the caloric information on their menus. That requirement took effect when President Barack Obama signed the law, but the places that serve food aren't expected to begin complying until penalties kick in next year.

In preliminary guidelines released last week, the Food and Drug Administration said the scope of the law stretches beyond restaurants to encompass airlines, trains, grocery-store food courts, movie theaters and convenience stores that qualify as chains. Within grocery stores, the agency said, it is considering including salad bars, store bakeries, pizza bars and delicatessens. Stadiums aren't listed since they aren't chains...

[realisticphish]

1. Can't wait for that law to kick in

I calorie-count, and it's a freaking pain figuring out some stuff. Max & Ermas, where I just ate today, doesn't post any nutritional information for anything other than their salads and veggie burgers (gee, I wonder why :eyes:).

Yeah, thanks M&E's, I know it's frigging bad for me, I just want to know HOW bad.

Though, I will say, movie theaters and airplanes? I mean, there's nothing WRONG with doing it, and there's no particular reason to exclude them, but it seems an odd thing to specify.

[Arctic Dave]

2. It will make it easier for the misses. She counts calories for her and me.

I much as I roll my eyes it does help.

[HopeHoops]

3. Great. Two places where you'd eat a six-day dead slug just to have something to munch on.

Of course McFood isn't much better - maybe five-day dead slugs - but still, what's the point of posting something that absolutely nobody is going to make a purchasing decision based on? The best use for McFood anti-nutrition information is for people writing articles using on-line research (at the company web sites) to determine which wad of fat and grease in a bun is the worst for your body and most likely to cause terminal constipation (which I STILL believe is what killed Elvis, but that was the drugs on top of the junk food).

If you're actually concerned about avoiding blubber butt and a heart attack, you don't need these labels at theaters or McFood joints. You smuggle in your own munchies to the theater (go in the winter when you have a big jacket with big pockets). Better yet, watch it on DVD (RedBox is great at $1/day) and make your OWN snacks when you're hungry or pee when you need to - with a pause button. Can you imagine an entire theater getting up to pee all at once with a pause for anything less than a 2 hr. movie ("Wizard of OZ", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang", etc.). If you're worried about nutrition, you already know to stay the fuck away from McShit, which of course includes not just McD's, but Burger King, Wendy's, Hardie's (sp), and anything else that does more business with their drive-through window than at the inside tables.

[AnArmyVeteran]

4. Theatres don't offer air-popped popcorn so I always smuggle my own in.

I shouldn't be forced to eat their deadly popcorn. A small bag has 54 grams of saturated fat. It's like injecting fat directly into your veins. And I save six bucks too...

[Scout]

5. this is unnecessary bullshit

if you're THAT worried about the calories you consume when eating out, eat at home.

if you can't make food choices without knowing the exact calorie count and nutritional values of every morsel, you probably shouldn't be out in the world unattended anyway.

jesus h fucking christ on a flippin' pogo stick.

:eyes: